Kolkata, May 14 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed police authorities to strictly maintain law and order "at the ground level" and ensure the safe return of persons allegedly displaced due to post-poll violence in a matter where Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee appeared in an advocate's gown.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul observed that if any citizen, irrespective of political affiliation, had been illegally thrown out because of post-poll violence, police authorities must ensure safe return to their shops, houses and properties.
The court permitted the state to file its affidavit-in-opposition within three weeks and granted liberty to the petitioner to file a reply within two weeks thereafter. The bench kept the issue of maintainability of the PIL open and said the question of referring the matter to a five-judge bench would be considered after the exchange of pleadings.
The case was filed by advocate Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, son of senior advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay.
Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee, appearing as a lawyer in the matter for the first time before the high court, told the bench that she was personally fighting the case as an advocate.
Placing photographs and documents, Mamata alleged that children, women and minorities were being targeted in the violence and claimed she had handed over details of ten persons allegedly murdered, six of them Hindus.
She further alleged that a Scheduled Caste family, including a 92-year-old widow, had been thrown out of their home and that several houses had been ransacked. Mamata alleged that police were not allowing FIRs to be lodged and that fish markets, houses and shops were being vandalised.
Seeking immediate intervention, she told the bench that people were allegedly being attacked, looted and displaced in front of the police. Referring to alleged demolition drives, she argued that even in cases of unauthorised structures, affected persons were entitled to be heard before demolition. "This is not a bulldozer state," she submitted.
The petitioner's side also urged the court to direct preservation of CCTV footage and video recordings relating to the alleged incidents and informed the bench that another matter relating to earlier post-poll violence was already pending before a five-judge bench.
The Union government and the state questioned the maintainability of the public interest litigation, arguing that necessary pleadings were absent and no FIRs had been annexed with the petition.
Outside the courtroom, tension prevailed as Mamata Banerjee faced slogans of "chor". She had arrived at the high court accompanied by senior Trinamool Congress leaders Chandrima Bhattacharya and Kalyan Banerjee.
Kalyan later alleged that lawyers influenced by the BJP attempted to heckle the former chief minister and claimed the party's legal team faced difficulty escorting her out of the court premises.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said: "In 2021, after poll results, 56 BJP workers were murdered in 27 days. Women workers testified to being sexually assaulted by TMC goons. Bulldozers were used to demolish the homes of BJP activists. Mamata Banerjee was the chief minister then. The violence is now being done by TMC workers who are killing each other with saffron flags in hand. We will not spare any criminals".
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.